The ridge is very long already and the cruxes are at the top, but another alternative to consider is the South West Ridge or the Direct Route on the Douglas boulder as a fun start to the day BUT only if you are going to be (proper,) fast on them (it does make for a great day out!)

The biggest drama is usually waiting for people to get across Tower Gap, make sure you are up early and keep faff to a minimum until after the gap (almost the top of the route!) You could also take a larger than normal bothy bag and invite the rest of the queue in for a song (why are we waiting...)

Don't stitch up your second by putting in minimal gear on the Eastern traverse!

In reply to jonnie3430: Hahaha, i've been doing my research on it and can't wait to have a crack next week.
I've been watching a few videos online of it, cracking be-nightment of the ridge on youtube "Tower Ridge Epic" really good watch!

In reply to Darkskys: Also, try to put some gear in straight after the Gap. On lead you step down in to the Gap with gear above you. Your second unclips that gear and faces a step down with a horizontal rope promising a biggish swing if they fluff it.

In reply to Darkskys: go left around the boulder.
There is an easy ramp on the left side of the start of the ridge which avoids the 1st steep pitch and is a time saver and a way of overtaking folk ahead of you too!
I'd only take it if the visibility is good, the line is quite visible before you get stuck into the gully.

> (In reply to Paul035) great video isn't it...you get a proper feel for it and especially it's length when they have to go through the night

Yeehh, but we did the Direct route on the Douglas boulder in Alpine conditions, I dropped my crampons and had to go down 200m for them, cleaned a rope off a route to the left and then had to call mountain rescue for a friend on Tower Scoop and we still topped out in good time for a great bum slide down No 4 (cracking day.)

It's not one upmanship, but faff avoidance; on the ridge we moved together until the eastern traverse, pitched til the end of tower gap then moved together again. Pitch what you want, but if there is no gear between you and the belay, you thought it fine and are confident to continue, tell them to strip the belay and start climbing!

3.5hrs to the start of the ridge alarm bells should have been ringing by then and what did they have in there packs even when they had all there kit and hardware on the packs were still massive. that seems to be an epic and a half but at least they made it eventualy.

> 3.5hrs to the start of the ridge alarm bells should have been ringing by then and what did they have in there packs even when they had all there kit and hardware on the packs were still massive. that seems to be an epic and a half but at least they made it eventualy.

> 3.5hrs to the start of the ridge alarm bells should have been ringing by then and what did they have in there packs even when they had all there kit and hardware on the packs were still massive. that seems to be an epic and a half but at least they made it eventualy.

Good vid, you would not want to be stuck behind them though! How did they loose 3.5 hrs getting to the start? Its only an hour to the CIC from Torlundy at a steady walk. What were they carrying?

Wasn't denying the fun, after all Tower ridge is an adventure. Looked like a good day out, all be it a long one. I would have liked to ask "Did you underestimate what you had let yourself in for?" though.

"Only an hour from Torlundy to the CIC" - Are you Mo Farah's training partner?

If I am not stopping and walk at a good clip then I would take 1 hour 20 (from the bottom car park) best case scenario -with a pack and consider myself to be pretty fit.. and would be passing people in front of me far more than being passed.

I agree 3.5 hours is a long time - but the important point is they kept it together when it mattered most - noticeable when it got dark around tower gap and were self-sufficient.. I guess it is one of these weight versus speed balancing acts. Looks like they were as a 3 as well which wouldn't have worked in their favour massively

In reply to MG: I thought it was nearer 5km than 4? I always took my time.. typically just under 2 hours. Last thing I wanted was to be knackered, sweaty and dehydrated before starting the proper work on a long day (maybe thats why the grades butterfrog is leading are so low or maybe its the other way round ...got to 'willy-wave' about something)

In reply to JamesRoddie:
I take about 90+ minutes. The steep sections up to the upper car park are the worst, I'm no fan of it first thing in the morning but once up above those I can usually enjoy the rest of the walk-in. I've taken 2 hours on a couple of occasions and also spent 30 minutes trying to get across the Allt a'Mhuillinn when it's been in spate. I make it about 5.5km and 600m ascent from carpark to CIC - 2 hours is not slow.
There is no whinge about the path from me, I remember the old one!